Not many people had high expectations for Tom Brady when he entered the league as the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.
In his rookie season, Brady played behind then-Patriots starter Drew Bledsoe.
According to a recent story from ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap, Bledsoe immediately took a liking to Brady — but never believed he would be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
“When Tom Brady was a rookie, @DrewBledsoe wanted to help him invest intelligently so he called his financial adviser and said, ‘I really like this kid. He’s never gonna be a starter… you’ll really like the kid,'” Schaap wrote.
Brady famously took over for Bledsoe after he suffered a brutal season-ending injury early in the Patriots’ 2001 campaign. Not only did Brady earn his spot as QB1, he led the team to a Super Bowl victory in his first season as a starter.
From then on, the rest is history. Brady is widely considered the greatest quarterback of all-time for his incredible career as a starter in the NFL.
On Wednesday morning, Brady officially announced his retirement after 23 years in the league.